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At the age of 50, I semi-retired from traditional employment and transitioned to being a full-time artist. I have the pleasure of spending every day in Birdsong Studio doing what I love. This blog was started almost a decade ago as a public accountability mechanism for a weight loss intention. It has grown into a number of different directions over the years. I hope you enjoy it.

Art in the Alley

For several years, I've had this idea of doing an "Art in the Alley" event. Yesterday dished up the perfect conditions to give it a try as Heather was doing an open house to sign copies of her first published achievement and the weather was perfect.

I knew that with people coming and going, working on a commission piece would difficult. Instead, I took the opportunity to finally immortalize the man who actually built the studio: Jim Dorie.

His wife Jeanne has sent a bunch of different photos last year, when I had planned to do it, but a little fire got in the way. The picture that I kept coming back to was one where he was in the middle of a laugh. To me, it captured the man and his spirit.

I brought all of the originals that were available for purchase and hung them on the fence. Against that natural wood colour, they absolutely popped. I loved the look and experience of walking down the back alley and seeing them anew.

With the permission of the neighbours I'd love to take the "Art in the Ally" concept a step further by inviting other artists to come and display their work. I'd also love to have some live acoustic music and fellow creators working on projects and engaging with people who come and go. It is a perfect spot to do it: calm, peaceful and quiet. The birds and the squirrels would enjoy the extra activity.

It was a two hour event and we had a number of people drop by to pick up their book and look at the paintings and the studio. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Interestingly, even though I was in the shade almost the whole time, I still felt a little sun-baked by the end of the afternoon and utterly exhausted. After a 10 minute nap, I was right as rain and ready to dive into the next commission piece.